Review: Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare doesn’t appear to have the necessary attributes to give audiences all that they’re looking for as far as overall value is concerned. Admittedly, it doesn’t look very appealing on the surface and it gives off the vibe that you’re in for something that’s rather foolish and just plain foolish. However, if and when you actually watch it, you’ll learn that it’s not what you were thinking it would be even though you may not consider it to be a success.

A harmless game of “Truth or Dare” among friends while on spring break turns deadly when they put a fresh, new spin on the old, inexpensive contest of wits. Once they discover that they can’t outrun what seems to be a curse that’s been unleashed, the group moves to uncover the secrets behind what entered their lives with malicious intentions. Until they come up with an answer, all they can do is play the game the right way. If they choose not to, they’ll be forced to suffer the worst consequences imaginable.

Judging by what I knew beforehand, Truth or Dare resembled the types of movies that no one would dream of taking seriously. And while I didn’t exit with my mind completely changed, the movie actually provided more than I expected. To my surprise, there’s also an honest attempt to turn this into a film that has some kind of depth and weight to it rather than simply leaning on the usual tropes that we’ve grown so familiar with.

When looking at all that it is, Truth or Dare has the kind of material that allows it to be the kind of movie that offers more since much of this stuff hasn’t really been used much in the past. Because of this, you’re getting a look at things that we’ve either rarely seen or haven’t seen at all. A lot of what we get is actually kind of brutal physically and emotionally for the characters. Now, you have to remember it never gets too gory or anything since it’s PG-13. This alone could hurt the movie in the eyes of some people, but it could also make what’s here more tolerable for others.

In terms of the story, they also bring in some heavy subject matter. Since it is safer than the usual horror or thriller, this is another thing that I didn’t anticipate. There are parts that ask the characters to go a bit deeper than they usually have to in these things, and I can appreciate that as well. In my opinion, it’s another feature that shows there was some effort put into this even if it doesn’t always work that well.

There’s a decent amount of setup throughout the early portions of Truth or Dare. Some of this is fine, but they have a little trouble unfolding certain parts of the plot, and it comes off feeling clunky at times. There are also periods where what’s being presented to us makes the movie seem as if it was overstuffed with content. Parts of this were necessary, but other parts could have probably been shaved down a bit to help smooth out the unevenness that eventually develops.

Some of what hurts this also comes down to the acting. I’m not going to name specific actors, but some of these guys and girls just aren’t good at what they’re asked to do here. Since I haven’t really heard of any of these people, I can’t speak on how good they are in other projects that they’ve been a part of, but some of them should definitely take the time to work on their craft.

Truth or Dare isn’t as bad as it probably would have been if it was in the possession of a lot of other producers who are churning out movies from this genre. By some miracle, Blumhouse gives us something that’s at least watchable even if it’s nowhere near spectacular. Would I suggest paying for it? Not in a million years. However, it’s interesting enough to see at least one time at some point in your life.

Although I wouldn’t suggest paying for this, movies like Truth or Dare are good to have around. They provide a bit of freshness since it allows its creators to try new things and open up more possibilities. Of course, you will bare witness to a number of failures along the way, but you’re likely going to be rewarded with a few quality movies over that span of time as well. Unfortunately, this is not one of those case where you’re going to leave truly satisfied, but it could have been much worse.